Psa 118:14-18 “The LORD is my Strength and Song, and is Become My Salvation”, Part 3

Psa 118:14 The LORD ismy strength and song, and is become my salvation.
Psa 118:15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Psa 118:16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Psa 118:18 The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

Last week we looked at how not being given over to death is accomplished in the lives of God’s children by being given over to death. There are two deaths being spoken about in God’s word; one is positive and the other is negative, and the only way we can come to trust God and reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ is through the sore fiery trials that all of God’s children must endure so that we can stop being slaves to sin and its wages which are death.  That dying daily process to sin is how we can live out our life through Christ and why we can say “The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation”. The strength of sin is the law, and the spiritual strength needed to fulfill the spirit of the law is the gift of life that God gives us through Jesus Christ as the “the right hand of the LORD is exalted” and we become abased through the works of the LORD that destroy our old man but exalt the new man, Jesus Christ, in us who does not give us over to spiritual death.

Psa 118:18  The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

Luk 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

Rom 14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

Rom 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

When we cease from sinning, we are no longer living our life in the bondage of fear which has us burying our dead works within us but rather now we can be about our Father’s business of preaching “the kingdom of God” and laying up treasure in heaven. That treasure is represented by the fruit which will be born when we are given to wholeheartedly seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness (Mat 6:21, Luk 6:19-21, Mat 6:33, Jer 29:13).

Mat 25:25  And I was afraid [1Jn 4:18], and went and hid thy talent in the earth [looking for our reward in the earth not being the manchild who is raised in heavenly places where are treasure is laid up (Eph 2:6, Rev 12:5)]: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love [love being perfected] casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Luk 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

The surrounding verses of Luke 9:60 explain to us some of the pulls on our flesh that keep us from following Christ wholeheartedly until those pulls are destroyed by Christ. When Christ said to an individual “Follow me” he said to Christ “Suffer me first to go and bury my father” (Luk 9:59) that is another way of saying you are still dealing with your past sins, your old man, whom we are commanded to forget and put behind us. Lord willing, we will do this by staying focused on a life which is reflecting these verses – Philippians 3:13-15. The hope of glory within us (Col 1:27) has God’s children pressing toward the “mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” as we abide in the light which cleanses us of all iniquity (1Jn 3:3-10) and “if in any thing ye be otherwise minded” God will reveal it unto us. Peter and Andrew in contrast to this man who said “suffer me first to go and bury my father“, “straightway left their nets, and followed him”.

1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested [1Jn 3:3, Col 1:27], that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Mat 4:20 And they straightway left theirnets, and followed him.

The other surrounding comments that demonstrate someone who typified this statement of Christ “Let the dead bury their dead” is found in the words “I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house” (Luk 9:61). This is another way of saying that we still love the world “which are at home at my house” and again we are given these few examples of Christ to admonish us to not be drawn back into our old home and house (Luk 17:32,1Jn 2:15-17, Luk 14:12-26).

Luk 14:12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. [2Ti 2:4,Col 1:28-29]
Luk 14:13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: [Rev 3:17-18]
Luk 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee [those who cannot recompense understand their indebtedness to God and need to forgive and be forgiven (Mat 18:35), unlike the servant in this parable (Mat 18:32-33, Luk 12:48)]: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. [Rev 19:9, “call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind” those who bring forth fruit meat unto repentance manifest that they are “the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind” (1Co 1:26)].
Luk 14:15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
Luk 14:16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: [Mat 22:14]
Luk 14:17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
Luk 14:18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, [dead burying the dead] and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
Luk 14:19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: [working in the earth: dead burying the dead] I pray thee have me excused.
Luk 14:20 And another said, I have married a wife, [more concerned with his earthly wife than with the wife of Christ the church: dead burying the dead] and therefore I cannot come.
Luk 14:21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. [Rev 19:9, 1Co 1:26]
Luk 14:22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
Luk 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, [Mat 20:6-7, Joh 6:44] that my house may be filled. [a predetermined amount called to that wedding (Eph 1:4)]
Luk 14:24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. [predestined to not partake of the supper but sacrificed for our sakes, serving us in their unbelief (Rom 11:28-32)]

Rom 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Luk 14:25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
Luk 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

The question that Christ introduces in this parable is that “the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” showing us as we read further along that God rejects Christ’s potential body, His ‘rejected anointed’ typified by King Saul, who are too busy tending to the physical cares of this world which choke the word [dead burying the dead], not allowing for the seed to take deep root so that a true foundation or place to “lay his head” can be established by our miraculously being founded on the Rock, Jesus Christ (Mat 16:18). But thanks be to God He has promised to finish this work in the lives of His children (Eph 2:10, Eph 1:4), as we experience as one body the piercing and crushing experiences which Christ endured for our sakes, so that the life of Christ can be formed in those who have been predetermined to become mature sons of God in this age, through filling “up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church” (Php 1:6, Heb 10:35, Mat 20:23, Rom 8:18,Col 1:24).

Luk 9:58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Luk 9:59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Luk 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
Luk 9:61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
Luk 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

In this study we will examine the positive fruit which is being grown in the lives of those who are being worked with in this age, and how, as always, it is “the right hand of the LORD [who] doeth valiantly” that makes it possible for this growth to occur.

Psa 118:14 The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

We could also say because the LORD “is become my salvation” he is “my strength and song“. He becomes our salvation through a process of spiritual completion [3] symbolically represented by “Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh” as shown in Psalm 80:2.

Psa 80:1 To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
Psa 80:2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.
Psa 80:3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

This process of spiritual completion unfolds as Christ “leadest Joseph like a flock (Rom 8:14); thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth” (Psa 80:1). It is Joseph and the cherubim who typify Christ and His Christ, the church of which Christ is the head where Christ shines forth “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph 3:10, Oba 1:21). Joseph typifies this spiritual provision the elect will provide for all of God’s creation.

Gen 41:50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
Gen 41:51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
Gen 41:52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
Gen 41:53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
Gen 41:54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. [Rev 2:10]
Gen 41:55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.
Gen 41:56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.
Gen 41:48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
Gen 41:49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

When God saves us through a process of spiritual completion, it happens as a result of turning us again (repentance) and causing His face to shine, so we shall be saved as the man of perdition within us is destroyed by the brightness of His coming, which is another way of saying “Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved” (Psa 80:3)

2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Psa 118:15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Psa 118:16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.

Rejoice and again I say rejoice because great is your reward which is in heaven, and mighty is the LORD whose “right hand” is going to accomplish and finish this work that He has begun in you (Heb 11:26). We are blessed to know that He is judging those goats all the day in our life, or as it is written “For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter”.  That dying daily process which we go through is also likened to a seed which must fall into the ground in order to bring forth fruit, and if it dies it will bring forth much fruit. It is a very amazing and comforting realization to come to be persuaded that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, and that confidence is founded on Romans 8:36 which precedes these most encouraging promises of our Father!

Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

We often talk about the right hand of God, but what is the symbolic left hand of God doing both within and without ourselves? God’s left hand sets the stage for judgment in our lives, as He gathers the goats on the left to be destroyed within us first if we are being judged in this age. The rest of the goats are preserved unto judgment in the lake of fire, that we told by Christ to be motivated in the most graphic possible way for our flesh to avoid it.

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

2Pe 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

Mat 18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

Mar 9:47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

The right hand [symbol of power] of the LORD that is exalted is mentioned three times once again to remind us that victory is coming through a process of judgment and that the giants in our land will be bread for us as they are destroyed little and by little by Christ, our hope of glory within.

Gen 9:3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

Deu 7:22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

Psa 118:17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.

If we are living and alive in Christ, then we must be about our Father’s business of declaring “the works of the LORD”. Judgment that is upon the house of God leads to witness or declaring the works of the LORD, and it takes God’s power working miraculously in our lives for that witness to be a true witness.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Luk 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sa
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Psa 118:18 The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

To not be given over to death, as we are learning, is something that happens in the life of God’s elect through a process of judgment or much tribulation, and we know that God will not let that process fail in the lives of those in whom He has predetermined to finish His workmanship.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Php 1:13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Eph 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

We are sent as Christ was sent and will have the accompanying peace which passes all understanding as the LORD makes a way for us where there seems to be none. We really need not take any anxious thought for the morrow or be troubled by those things which have come and gone, because Christ has promised to never leave or forsake us in this life.

Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Isa 43:16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
Isa 43:17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Deu 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

There really is no way in our flesh to find salvation, and the LORD tells us so by saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” It is because of His faithfulness toward us that He can be our “strength and song, and is become my salvation“.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the last few verses of Psalm 118 where we will learn more of how the righteous will enter into gates of righteousness via “This gate of the LORD” and how impassioned our cries will be to God, just as Christ’s were when He was in His flesh.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Psa 118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
Psa 118:20 This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
Psa 118:21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
Psa 118:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
Psa 118:23 This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
Psa 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psa 118:25 Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Psa 118:26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
Psa 118:27 God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
Psa 118:28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
Psa 118:29 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.